QUO

What QUO does

QUO CARD Co., Ltd. (株式会社クオカード), founded in 1987 and headquartered in Tokyo, is a Japanese gift card issuer operating a dual-format prepaid payment product: the physical QUO Card (denominations 300-10,000 yen, plus free-value options) accepted at convenience stores, drug stores, bookstores, home centers, and restaurants nationwide, and QUO Card Pay (launched 2018), a smartphone-based digital gift delivered via email or messaging apps and redeemed by barcode/QR at a broader merchant set including fashion, electronics, supermarkets, and dining. The platform is built on conventional prepaid issuance and barcode/QR payment infrastructure with no disclosed API, SDK, or AI/ML components, and accepts payments through convenience stores, Loppi terminals, fax orders, and dedicated e-commerce stores (quocard.jp and pay.quocard.jp).

The company operates a hybrid go-to-market model serving three primary segments: individual consumers purchasing through direct online stores and physical retail; corporate clients via sales-led bulk orders, custom designs, and quotation-based campaigns for promotional incentives, employee benefits, and shareholder rewards; and municipalities via a dedicated sales team and a limited-use QUO Card Pay variant for subsidy and welfare programs with merchant-category restrictions. Revenue is generated through one-time unit sales of cards and digital codes (face value plus production costs for physical cards; flexible 1-yen increments from 50 yen to 100,000 yen for QUO Card Pay), supplemented by corporate bulk contracts and authorized reseller channels (12+ partners including WELBOX, Benefit One, and SB Gift). Distribution is augmented by an authorized dealer network and benefit-service platform integrations. Approximately 1 billion QUO Cards have been issued since 1987, with 92.5% brand awareness among Japanese consumers.

Name

QUO

Legal name

QUO CARD Co., Ltd.

Website

https://quocard.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Short description

QUO CARD Co., Ltd. is a Japanese gift card issuer founded in 1987 that operates a dual-format prepaid product — physical QUO Card and digital QUO Card Pay — serving individual consumers, corporate clients, and municipalities for gifting, promotional campaigns, employee benefits, and welfare subsidy distribution in Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Prepaid Gift Cards

NAICS

Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942)

akta.pro primary industry

Gift Card Processing, Issuance Platforms & Aggregators (FSAMANAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Card Issuing Platforms (Issuer Processing) (FSAGABAD), Virtual Prepaid & Single-Use / Tokenized Cards (FSAMANAJ), Government Benefit & EBT / Social Program Cards (FSAMANAF)

Keywords

• Prepaid gift cards
• Digital gift vouchers
• Corporate incentive programs
• Government subsidy distribution
• Branded payment solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. QUO Card Sales: Sale of physical prepaid gift cards through online stores, convenience stores, and authorized dealers. Revenue generated from card face value minus production costs.
2. QUO Card Pay Digital Sales: Sale of digital gift codes through QUO Card Pay online store. Codes can be customized and delivered digitally via email or messaging apps.
3. Corporate/Bulk Sales: B2B sales to corporations for promotional campaigns, employee benefits, shareholder rewards, and point exchange programs. Volume pricing and custom designs available.
4. Municipal/Government Sales: Sales to municipalities and local governments for subsidy programs, childcare support, and public benefit initiatives. Includes specialized limited-use gift cards.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

QUO issues and sells prepaid gift cards in two formats: a physical QUO Card (launched 1987) accepted at convenience stores, drug stores, bookstores, home centers, and other retailers nationwide, and a digital QUO Card Pay (launched 2018) delivered via email or messaging apps and redeemed via barcode at participating stores. The company serves individual consumers for personal gifting, corporations for promotional campaigns and employee benefits, and municipalities for welfare and subsidy programs, with approximately 1 billion cards issued since founding.

Product overview

QUO offers two gift card products: QUOカード (physical gift card) and QUOカードPay (digital gift card). QUOカードは a card-type gift certificate usable at convenience stores, bookstores, drug stores, home centers, cafes, and other retailers nationwide, with denominations from 300 yen to 10,000 yen and custom design options. QUOカードPay is a smartphone-based digital gift that can be sent via email or messaging apps, usable at even wider retail categories including fashion, electronics, and dining, with denominations from 50 yen to 100,000 yen. Both products serve individual consumers, corporate clients (for campaigns, incentives, employee benefits, shareholder rewards), and municipal governments (for welfare programs, subsidies, and community services). QUOカード launched in 1987 with approximately 1 billion cards issued; QUOカードPay was introduced as a digital alternative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• おもいやりQUOカード: 社会貢献型QUOカード，将部分收益捐赠给公益社团法人国土绿化推进机构的「緑の募金」活动，用于国内森林整备和儿童森林环境教育。
• 株式会社クオカード

Products and services

• QUO Card (Physical Gift Card) A physical prepaid gift card (gift certificate) usable at convenience stores, bookstores, drug stores, home centers, cafes, and other retailers nationwide. Available in standard denominations of 300, 500, 700, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 yen, plus free-value options. Original custom designs available from 5 cards (Happymade Card). No expiration date and no registration required for recipients.
• QUO Card Pay (Digital Gift Card) A smartphone-based digital gift card usable at convenience stores, drug stores, fashion retailers, electronics stores, supermarkets, and restaurants. Denominations range from 50 yen to 100,000 yen per code in 1 yen increments (minimum order 1,000 yen per transaction). Can be redeemed via barcode display without app installation; dedicated app available for multi-code management.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92.5% consumer brand awareness in Japan
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Anri Co., Ltd. (株式会社アンリ)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Authorized QUO Card Pay sales partner offering digital gift solutions to consumers and businesses through their service platform.
• Orica Supply / Sigal Gift Co., Ltd. (株式会社シーガルギフト)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Authorized QUO Card Pay sales partner operating the Orica Supply platform.
• Cardmates Co., Ltd. (株式会社カードメイツ)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Authorized QUO Card Pay sales partner.
• Cosmics GC System Co., Ltd. (コスミックGCシステム株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Operates Galileox Local QUO Card Pay platform featuring regional specialty gift cards.
• Incom Japan Inc. (インカム・ジャパン株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Operates Kiigo platform for individual consumers (Kiigo) and B2B services (Kiigo for B2B) as authorized QUO Card Pay sales partner.
• Dawn Japan Co., Ltd. (ダウジャパン株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Operates Giftto platform as authorized QUO Card Pay sales partner.
• Raksul Ltd. (株式会社ラクスル)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Operates novelty gift platform offering QUO Card Pay through Raksul's novelty product catalog.
• SB Gift Co., Ltd. (SBギフト株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026Operates LINE Gift shops featuring QUO Card Pay at Seven-Eleven, Welcia, Sundrug, Sugi Pharmacy, and QUO Card Pay official shops.
• E-Well Co., Ltd. (株式会社イーウェル)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026WELBOX benefit service platform offers QUO Card Pay to corporate employee benefit members.
• Reru Club Co., Ltd. (株式会社リロクラブ)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026福利厚生俱楽ubenefit service platform offers QUO Card Pay to employee benefit members.
• Benefit One Inc. (株式会社ベネフィット・ワン)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026ベネフィット・ステーション platform offers QUO Card Pay to corporate employee benefit members.
• Resol Life Support Co., Ltd. (リソルライフサポート株式会社)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2026ライフサポート俱楽ubenefit service platform offers QUO Card Pay to members.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• nanaco (Seven & i Holdings): Closed-loop prepaid gift card / e-money issued by Seven & i Holdings and accepted across 7-Eleven, Ito-Yokado, and group retailers in Japan. Directly comparable as a Japan-domestic prepaid gift instrument competing for the same retail and consumer wallet.
• WAON (Aeon Group): Closed-loop prepaid gift card / electronic money issued by Aeon Financial Service and accepted across Aeon Group retail. Directly comparable as a major Japan-domestic prepaid gift instrument with similar consumer and merchant economics.
• 図書カード (Toshokan Card / 日本図書普及): Established Japanese book voucher / gift certificate widely used for gifting and accepted at bookstores nationwide. Comparable as a category-specific Japanese gift voucher competing for the same consumer gifting occasions.
• Vプリカ (LifeCard): Visa-branded virtual prepaid card available in Japan with online issuance and digital delivery. Closely comparable to QUO Card Pay as a digital-first prepaid instrument with no physical card requirement.

Broad incumbents

• JCBプレモカード: Prepaid gift card issued by JCB, one of Japan's largest card networks. Comparable as a network-issuer prepaid gift instrument, though JCB's broader payments portfolio gives it incumbent advantages in merchant reach.
• Edy (bitWallet / Rakuten): Long-running Japanese digital prepaid electronic money accepted across convenience stores and online. Comparable as a Japan-domestic prepaid payment instrument competing for similar retail and consumer use cases.
• LINE Pay (LINE Yahoo): Mobile payment and digital gift / stamp service integrated into the LINE messaging app. Comparable as a Japanese digital gifting and payment instrument with social-distribution advantages.
• PayPay (Z Holdings / SoftBank): Japan's dominant QR-code mobile payment platform with 60M+ users. Comparable as a digital payment instrument competing for consumer wallet share and merchant acceptance, though broader in scope than gifting.

Emerging players

• バンドルカード (Bandai Namco / カンム): Virtual prepaid Visa card available in Japan with instant digital issuance. Comparable to QUO Card Pay as a digital-first prepaid card targeting online and retail spending.
• Kyash: Mobile wallet and prepaid Visa card app for peer-to-peer payments and online spending in Japan. Comparable as a digital-first prepaid instrument targeting consumer and corporate payment use cases.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/quocardofficial
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCBmPOsNIIc_3k-TJKcFCOMA
• Facebookfacebook.com/quocard

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about QUO